Thomas l



(No Model.)

T. L. McKEEN. OAR GOUPLING.

No. 539,286. I Patented May 14, 1895 UNITED STATES PATENT OF ICE.

THOMAS L. MCKEEN, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO HARRYO. BLYE, OF SAME PLACE.

CAR-COUPLING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters was NO. 539,286, dated May 14,1895.

Application filed March 9, 1895. Serial No. 541,165. (No model.)

T or whom it may concern: 7 Be it known that I, THOMAS L. MOKEEN, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of New York,'in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Safety Attachments for Oar-Couplings; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, which will ento able others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification, and in which-- Figure 1 is a perspective view of a car-coupling of the so-called Master Car-Bui1ders I type provided with my safety attachment. Fig. 2 is a plan or top view of the same, showing various modifications in the location and arrangement of they safety device. Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view of the end sill and buffer-block I on the oblique vertical plane indicated by the broken line marked w a; in Fig. 2, illustrating more clearly the construction 2 5 and arrangement of the hooked bolt to which one end of the safety-link is fastened. Fig. 4: is a horizontal sectional view, on an enlarged scale, of the nutted end of said hooked bolt, with its attachments. Fig. 5 is a trans verse sectional view through the draw-head on the vertical plane indicated by the broken line marked y y in Fig. 2. Fig. 6 is a detail view of the bentpin or bolt appertaining to the draw-head of the coupler as part of my 3 5 safety attachment, and Fig. 7 is a detail View of the hooked bolt appertaining to the end sill and buffer-block of the car body.

Like letters of reference designate corresponding parts in all the figures.

My invention has for its object to provide a safety-attachment for car-couplings of the so-called M. O. B. (Master Oar Builders) pattern, such as the Janney,Thurmond, Standard, and other well-known couplings of the knuckle type, which are now com-' ing into very general use on the railroads of the United States, as well as abroad. In couplings of this particular type, the drawhead is of necessity very large and heavy; and in 50 hauling trains it sometimes happens that the draft rigging gives way, releasing the coupler; or the head of the coupler breaks off in consequence of the sudden and violent contact by bufiing; causing it (the broken-off drawhead) in either case to fall on the track, which is liable to result in the derailment of the cars, stripping-off the brake-beams and doing other injury, whereby the lives of both passengers and trainmen are endangered, besides seriously damaging the cars and track, causing delays in the running of trains, and other serious inconveniences. It will therefore'readily be seen that it is of the utmost importance to provide means for the prevention of such accidents; and this I accomplish 6 effectually, yet in a very simple and inexpensive manner, by combining with the drawhead of the coupling the safety-link and attachments, which I shall now proceed to describe.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, the reference-letter A designates the end-sill of a railway car, the drawhead D of which is equipped'with my safety-attachment. The buffer-block is shown at B, and the drawbar 7 5 at O;both the drawhead and drawbar, D 0, may be of any approved construction.

On the drawings, I have shown my safetyattachment as applied to a Thurmond coupler, the drawhead of which, back of the knuckle, is cast'with two registering or coinciding apertures, a and b, one in the roof and the other in the bottom of the interiorrecess within which the tail of the knuckle works. By preference the top aperture a is made round and the bottom holeb square; but this arrangement may be reversed; or both apertures may be made square, if for any reason deemed advisable; the object being simply to prevent the bolt E, which is inserted verti- 9o cally-and removably through the apertures a, b, from turning. In this case, the bottom hole b is square, and the lower end of bolt Firs also squared, as shown at e; its depending end, which projects below the aperture 1), be- 5 ing provided with a key or cotter e to hold it in place vertically; or the lower end may be screw-threaded and nutted for the same purpose. I prefer to use a cotter, however, as a nutis apt to jar oft, unless constructed with a nut-lock.

The bolt E is bent at right angles at its upper end, forming an elbow F, which projects horizontally and forwardly in a plane parallel to the axis of the drawbar, or at right angles to the end-sill and butter-block of the car; said projecting arm or elbowF being prevented from turning by the squared part of the bolt. Another bolt, G, is inserted in a horizontal plane obliquely through the bu Ft'erblock 13 and end-sill A, back of the bufferblock; the rearmost end of said horizontal bolt G being screw-threaded, and inserted centrally through a w pillow-block or bolster I, (preferably of cast iron or other suitable metal,) of circular shape, but cut off slantingly or obliquely on one side or face, as shown at t', to conform to the angle or incline of bolt G relative to the butter-block and end-sill, through which it is inserted horizontallybut obliquely. Back of this bolster, I, is an ordinary metal disk-washer J, between which and another similar circular washer, K, is placed a stiff spring-washer L, made either of rubber or of metal (or it may beacombination rubber and steel spring); said disk-washers J and K, with the spring. L between them, being held in place upon bolt G by means of a nut M, which should be prevented from work ing loose by any approved form of lockingdevice applied to it.

The opposite or forward end of the horizontal bolt G is bent into a hook-shape, with its free limb H doubled upon itself in a parallel line, the end h of said limb H fitting into a recess h bored in the front side of the bufferblock 13, in vertical'alignment with the oblique long bolt-hole g, which will prevent bolt G H from turning; care being taken to make the lip h long enough, and its recess h deep enough, to prevent the lip from being pulled out of its recess when the bolt is being pulled upon so as to compress its spring L to the greatest possible extent. A link, N, is slipped with one end over said hook H G, appertaining to the end-sill and buffer-block of the carbody, and with its other end over the hook or elbow, F, of the vertical bolt E e, appertaining to the car-coupling; and this link must be long enough to give the drawhead sufficient play (i. e.,limit of motion, both forward and back and to both sides) to work properly in starting and stopping a train, or in turning curves; permitting the coupling, in all'respects, to work precisely as if there were no safety-attachment connected with it.

From the foregoing description, taken in connection with the drawing, the operation of my attachment will be understood at a glance. 1f the drawbar 0 should break and the drawhead D pulled out,it cannot possibly drop to the ground, but will remain suspended from the solid and substantial timbers which form the end-sill and buffer-block of the car-body, by means of the hook-bolts E F and G H, in combination with the link N. As the elbow F cannot turn, it is impossible for the link to slip off or become disengaged from the drawhead D; and it is equally in1- possible forsaid link to become disengaged from the hooked bolt G H. The spring-washer L gives sufficient play, in a longitudinal direction, to the bolt G within its bolt-hole g to prevent any sudden jar or shock, which will be taken up by the spring-washer L acting as a cushion; and by means of the obliquely cutoff bolster I 1', the bolt G though inserted obliquely or in a slanting direction through the timbers A and B (viz: the end sill and buffer-block of the car-body), will nevertheless take a true purchase or hearing against the same; the pull upon bolt G (in the event of accident,) when it has to support the broken-off drawhead) being thus sustained by both the timbers A and 13 instead of one of them only.

It will be obvious, that the precise location of the drawhead bolt E F, relative to the body of the drawhead, is unimportant, so long as it serves as a means for connecting said drawhead to the attachment link N in such a manner as to permit said link to operate in the manner described.

As a matter of fact, the exact location of bolt E F, and the registering apertures a and 12 through which it is inserted, must and does depend upon details of construction of the particular style of drawhead with which the safety-attachment is to be used; depending upon the disposition of metal and space, the, which differs somewhat in the different styles and nomenclatures of coupling; all of which, however, conform to the same generalMaster Car Builders pattern. Thus, for instance, in the Thurmond couplingit will be found most convenient to cast the holes a b in the body of the drawhead, back of the pivoted kn uckle; the vertical bolt E F occupying a position in the drawhead recess immediately back of the tail of the knuckle, as illustrated in full lines in the plan or top view, Fig. 2; whereas in the Janney style of coupling (which is of the same general Master Gar Builders pattern), it will be found most convenient to locate bolt E F about centrally, or in alignment with the draw-bar (J. The same arrangement would apply to the so-called Standard coupling; while in other styles of couplings of the same pattern, the. vertical drawhead-bolt may be most conveniently located in the right horn or guard-arm of the drawhead, back of the lip, as indicated by dotted lines on Fig. 2; and it will be obvious that the location and arrangement of the horizontal bolt G H and link N must correspond to the locations of the drawhead-bolt E F; said bolt G H being placed either on the left side of the drawbar, as shown in full line on the drawings; in alignment with and above the axis of the drawbar, centrally between the parallel draw-sills A A 5 or obliquely on the right-hand side of the drawbar, opposite to the place where it is shown located on the drawings, but arranged in substantially the same manner, 'i. 6., inserted obliquely through the end sill A and the butter-block B, with a bolster and bulfer-spring, or spring-washer, back of the end sill, as shown in dotted lines.

Having thus described my invention, I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States 1. The combination with the drawhead, D, of a car-coupling, of the vertically inserted bolt, E, having a right-angled arm or elbow, F, projecting above the top of the drawhead in a plane approximately parallel to the axis of the drawbar, and provided with a squared section fitting into a square aperture in the body of the drawhead; link N, and hooked bolt G H, inserted through v the buffer-block and end-sill of the car, and provided with a nut M, and spring-washer, L, inserted between the nut and end-sill; substantially as and for the purpose shown and set forth.

2. The combination of the drawhead, D, having apertures a 1); bolt, E, having the right-angled elbow, F, and adapted to fit in the apertures, a b, so thatit cannot turn therein; link'N; hooked bolt, G, doubled upon itself to form the parallel limb, H, having lip, h; end-timbers, A and B, bored through obliquely at g and having a recess, h, in vertical alignment with said bore or bolt-hole,

oblique bolster or bearing-block, I nut M; and spring-washer, L; all constructed and combined to operate substantially in the manner and for the purpose herein shown and set forth.

3. The combination with the end-timbers of a car-body, and the coupling appertaining to the same, of the hooked bolt, G H, inserted horizontally through said end-timbers and provided with a spring or cushion back of the same; the bolt E F, inserted vertically through the body of the drawhead and having an arm or elbow projecting above the same, in a plane approximately parallel to the axis of the drawbar; and the link N, connecting the hooked bolts G H and E F ;.substantially as and for the purpose herein shown and set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereunto affixed my signature in presence of two witnesses.

THOMAS L. MOKEEN.

Witnesses:

J. H. REILLY, JOHN A. PORCHER. 

